General OneFile

InfoTrac OneFile Sample Searches

InfoTrac OneFile is a one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology and many general interest topics. This database contains millions of full-text articles, many with images. It is updated daily.

Search 1:

A training consultant doing a keyword search in InfoTrac OneFile for "statistical data included" and "trad*" (to retrieve all iterations of "trade") kept getting the "Wild card expansion produces too many terms" error and she wanted to know why.

Solution:

1. Using "trad*" in the keyword search would also include words like "tradition", "traditions", etc. Even using "AND" with "statistical data included" would retrieve too many records (more than 1.84 million) for the system to handle.
2. Entering the following in the keyword entry box yielded relevant results and avoided the wild card expansion error message:

   (statistical data included) AND (trade or trading or trader)

Search 2:

A reference librarian from the University of Colorado at Boulder using InfoTrac OneFile wanted to search for full-text articles from April 2003 to the present on the Patriot Act.

Solution:

1. Opened InfoTrac OneFile and went into the "Subject guide search" page.
2. Entered "Patriot Act" in the entry box.
3. Limited search to dates from May 2003 to the present.
4. Clicked on the "Search" button and found that the preferred search term was the "Antiterrorism Act of 2001".
5. Clicked on any of the three "See" buttons displaying this preferred term and retrieved five newspaper and more than 100 periodical full-text articles that fit the desired criteria.

Search 3:

A patron at a public library using InfoTrac OneFile wanted retrieve full-text articles on the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

Solution:

1. Opened InfoTrac OneFile and went to the "Subject guide search" page.
2. Checked the "to articles with text" box and entered "Children's Internet Protection Act" to see if was a preferred term. It was not. "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998" was.
3. Clicked on the "See" button before the preferred term and retrieved more than 40 newspaper and more than 270 periodical full-text articles.

Search 4:

A user of InfoTrac OneFile want to know of a quick way to retrieve all articles/citations on the blackout that took place more than the northeastern region of North America.

Solution:

1. Entered InfoTrac OneFile and went to the "Subject guide search" page.
2. Entered the world "blackout" in the entry box and clicked on the "Search" button.
3. Four preferred terms were retrieved, one of which was "Northeast Blackout, 2003".
4. Clicked on the "View" button under "Northeast Blackout, 2003" and retrieved more than 200 newspaper and more than 260 periodical articles/abstracts.

Search 5:

A user of InfoTrac OneFile wanted to find any articles that mentioned on the "Universal National Service Act of 2003".

Solution:

1. Opened InfoTrac OneFile and went to the "Advanced search" page.
2. Selected "Text Word (tx)" and entered "Universal National Service Act of 2003" in the first entry box.
3. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved seven articles.